Giants general manager Brian Sabean on Thursday tore into Scott Cousins of the Florida Marlins for his devastating hit on Buster Posey, saying the Giants will have a "long memory" of the play and everyone in the organization will be happy if Cousins is through as a major-league player.

In equally strong comments, Cousins' agent, Matt Sosnick, told The Chronicle that the hit was neither dirty nor intentional, and part of the game. He also said the Marlins had to get Major League Baseball security involved because of death threats to Cousins.

Sabean, on his weekly KNBR radio program, said Cousins' hit was "malicious" and "unnecessary," adding that photographic evidence showed Cousins veering to his left to hit Posey, shoulder to shoulder, in a "premeditated" act.

The GM's harshest statements in the lengthy interview came when co-host Ralph Barbieri noted that Posey had no desire to hear from Cousins.

"I don't blame the kid," Sabean said of Posey. "Why not be hard-nosed? If I never hear from Cousins again, or he doesn't play another day in the big leagues, I think we'll all be happy."

Sabean did not back down when asked shortly thereafter if his comment was a bit harsh.

"No," Sabean said. "He chose to be a hero, in my mind. If that's his flash of fame, that's as good as it's going to get, pal. We'll have a long memory. We talked to (former Giants catcher) Mike Matheny about how this game works. You can't be that out-and-out overly aggressive.

"There's no love lost and there shouldn't be."

The Marlins did not play Thursday, but Cousins' agent said that while he respects Sabean, he believes the GM is 100 percent wrong.

"What Cousins did was not malicious," Sosnick said. "A statement that anyone makes implying that he did something on purpose to be hurtful or malicious to Posey is untrue. Those people are misinformed. You can't determine on a replay if there was a sliding lane for him to get into. It's impossible."

Sosnick said no player ever tried harder than Cousins to reach out to a player he injured.

The agent, who also represents Freddy Sanchez, said the hit was not illegal and the right thing to do in a close game. If the same situation arose, Sosnick said, "I would hope he'd make the same play, and he would hope that nothing would happen to Posey at all.

"I'd say Brian's opinion is in the vast minority in baseball. I can understand the disappointment that Posey is out. I'm disappointed. My family is disappointed and I don't even represent him. I can just tell you that if you know Scott Cousins, you know it was certainly not intentional."

Sabean also said it will be up to Posey whether he wants to continue catching.

"I know he wants to catch," Sabean said. "I know this is a horrific experience for him. He's in a lot of pain now. It's hard for him to rationalize right now. I know he's a warrior, if I can use that term. He likes to catch the position, and I'm sure next spring he'll come to camp as a catcher."